FOUR charities operating across south Somerset have been granted National Lottery funding for a pioneering project to address mental and physical health inequalities in the area.
Watch CIO, Open Doors Crewkerne, Ark at Egwood and Chard Community Hub will share the funding for the ‘Bridges to Wellbeing’ project over a three-year period, which will fund five new positions across the four organisations.
Starting this year, the project will address significant mental and physical health inequalities that exist in the area through the delivery of a varied range of activities and support. The funding will help reach 1,000 new beneficiaries each year across all four partner organisations.
Watch CIO, which is based in Chard, will lead the delivery of the project. Julie Matthews BEM, the charity’s CEO, said: “I am particularly excited about having three other partners that all have skills in different areas and with whom we can collaborate closely with.
Julie continued: “This will help beneficiaries in our community to help them connect back into society with work or volunteering. In addition, the aim is for us to collaborate closely with many other organisations. We really thank Amanda at Gillingham Grange in Chard for providing wonderful facilities for our meetings.”
Nigel Bell, CEO of Ark at Egwood, said: “The funding for Ark is all about building the partnerships and collaboration with local organisations that share the same ethos. It will enable us to support many people for years to come.”
Michael Fox, of Open Doors Crewkerne, said: “The funding for us for the first time means we can run a community space in Crewkerne that people can use. We want people to come and use our services. It’s amazing to be working with the other three partners and to work together across south Somerset.”
Serena Wootton, CEO of Chard Community Hub, said: “Being part of this project will plug the gap we currently have. It’s an opportunity for us to focus on our beneficiaries and our volunteers that maybe do want to get back into the workplace or want to have a more active role volunteering; this is the piece of the puzzle that’s missing really.”
Serena added: “There’s two part-time coordinator roles available, so they will be focussing particularly on Chard Community Hub, and we are looking at who in our set up might want to be involved.”
Amanda Whyte, General Manager of Gillingham Grange Care Home, said: “We here at Gillingham Grange, part of Crystal Care Collection feels honoured to be able to contribute in a small way to support our local charities in being able to offer such wonderful help to improve the health and wellbeing of those living in Chard and surrounding communities. We are passionate in continuing this collaboration for the foreseeable future and look forward to being a part of and witnessing the inspiring work they do every day.”
